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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  2. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  3. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  4. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  5. Flower arranging is a traditional ________________ in Japan.
  6. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  7. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  8. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  9. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  10. Small ________________ should stay in the harbor during the storm.
  11. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  12. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  13. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. Have you met the new head ________________?
  16. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  17. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He spent years learning his ________________ as a carpenter.
  20. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  21. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  22. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  23. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  24. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. chest — of your body
  2. band — a ring
  3. trunk — of a car
  4. trunk — of an elephant
  5. craft — a handicraft
  6. bore — to tire
  7. trunk — of a tree
  8. chest — of your body
  9. bore — gave birth
  10. craft — boats
  11. bore — to drill
  12. coach — pulled by horses
  13. wax — for sculpting
  14. chest — a box
  15. coach — a trainer
  16. band — a music group
  17. file — a document
  18. wax — to grow
  19. craft — a skill
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. band — a rubber band
  22. file — a tool
  23. wax — in the ear
  24. file — a line of people

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com